In a nutshell: Huobi Global has announced the acquisition of Bitex, a Latin American crypto platform with operations in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Huobi says it’s expanding its footprint in Latin America because it expects the region to be one of the most active crypto adoption places globally.
Huobi Global, the world’s largest crypto asset exchange, revealed on Thursday that it had acquired Bitex, a Latin American cryptocurrency exchange. According to the release, the specifics of the arrangement between Huobi and Bitex have not been disclosed.
Bitex is a trading platform created in 2014, and while Huobi will be the parent business, the trading platform’s branding and management team will remain the same. Bitex is a digital currency exchange that serves the people of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile. Bitex services individuals, high-net-worth clientele, and corporations with over 200,000 open accounts.
Huobi said in February that it would re-enter the US market after shutting down its operations in China to comply with a local restriction on crypto-related transactions. Huobi lost nearly a third of its sales from September to December last year, according to firm co-founder Du Jun.
Huobi, according to Bitex’s CEO, will aid expansion by promoting branding and management.
While Bitex’s personnel and identity will remain, Huobi’s platform will be integrated with the Bitex system. In addition, all Bitex users will have access to the digital currencies supplied by Huobi’s Global’s trading engine due to the integration.
Huobi has been looking to expand its Latin American presence since launching Huobi Argentina in 2019. According to the firm, crypto use in Latin America increased by 1,370% from 2019 to 2021.
Huobi Global is the fourth biggest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of transaction volume and the third-largest in terms of crypto reserves, with $11.7 billion in assets under management (AUM). Huobi, according to Bitex CEO Francisco Buero, will aid the company’s expansion ambitions.
